Saturday, April 13, 2013
Few contested races meant low voter turnout and few changes in who Natick's local elected officials are in the 2013 Town Election.
Natick residents headed to the ballots on Tuesday in this year's annual Town Election. Or did they? With the final official results showing that just 10.1 percent of registered voters showed up to the polls, not many voters participated this year. Having only two contested races probably had a lot to do with that, although one of those races was for School Committee, which traditionally many voters consider one of the more important positions. In that race, Anne Blanchard and Paul Laurent sought and were successful in being re-elected. In addition, newcomer Tom Campbell received the second highest number of votes and is excited about joining the committee. While the 10.1 percent voter turnout was low, early on it looked like it might be …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The following information was provided by Town Clerk Diane Packer. It is the results of the Natick Town Election. It does not include any write-in votes for Town Meeting.
The accompanying PDF shows the results of the Natick Town Election that was held yesterday. Natick Patch previously reported the unofficial results, as well as the results of the contested races for Morse Institute Library Trustees and School Committee. If you want to be among the first to know about stories like this everyday, sign up for the Natick Patch Newsletter.
With just two townwide contested races, few people went out to vote in Natick yesterday. Here are the unofficial results.
Only 8.91 percent of registered voters showed up to cast a ballot at the polls during yesterday's Town Election. With only two races, School Committee and Morse Institute Library Trustee, contested, just 1,787 people voted, according to the unofficial results available at this time. School Committee will have a new member in Tom Campbell, while Anne Blanchard and Paul Laurent were both re-elected. Five Morse Institute Library Trustees were elected as well. The accompanying PDF has all of the unofficial voting results.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
School Committee and Morse Institute Library Trustee each had a race, but the contested races have been decided.
Only 1,787 (8.91 percent) of registered voters cast a ballot today, but those who did selected a new School Committee member while re-electing two others. Tom Campbell, who has lived in Natick for 11 years and has three children in the Natick Public Schools, received 28.4 percent of the vote, second only to current Vice Chair Anne Blanchard's 28.79 percent (just 16 votes separated them), to get elected to the School Committee in his first attempt at running for public office. "I'm really gratified that so many people helped and supported me," an ecstatic Campbell said about 15 minutes after learning that he had been elected. "I'm really looking forward to working with the other volunteers on the School Committee, the parents, the schools, …
A slow turnout for the first few hours at the polls has some wondering why people choose to vote or not.
A slow turnout early in the morning isn't necessarily always a surprise, but in many elections a number of people will vote before they head to work in the morning. That wasn't the case in today's election. Natick residents Stephanie Campbell and Sharon Durgin were at the Bakery on the Common at about noon. "I always vote in the election," Campbell said when asked if she had voted yet. "I usually my son (who's 12) with me to all the Presidential elections." Campbell added that she was the 26th person to cast their vote in Precinct 6 at the Lilja School. Durgin hadn't voted yet, but she said she's planning to cast her ballot later. "I usually vote when I pick up my son [at Willson Middle School]," she said. Asked if they had any thoughts as…
Few contested races, possibility of rain keep voters away from polls so far.
Voter turnout has been extremely low in the Annual Town Election taking place today in Natick. The polls, which opened at 7 a.m., haven't had many people campaigning outside, and not much activity has been happening inside either. At the Natick Community-Senior Center, for example, only 33 ballots had been cast as of 8 a.m. This included absentee ballots. Voters from precincts 7 and 9 vote at the Community-Senior Center. At the Wilson Middle School, where precincts 4 and 5 vote, just 22 ballots had been casted as of 8 a.m. While it's always expected that the local election will get less votes than the Presidential election, more people were expected to vote than have so far. Still people working the polls seemed confident that at some …
Candidates for U.S. Senate Democratic nomination squared off in Lowell Monday.
U.S. Congressmen Stephen Lynch and Edward Markey met in their second debate Monday ahead of the Democratic U.S. Senate special primary in a contest that contained few fireworks outside of an exchange on health care. The debate, held at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and sponsored by the college and the Boston Herald, lasted about 45 minutes and touched a wide variety of issues on which the two Democrats mostly agreed. An early question was asked about the candidates' positions on the Affordable Care Act. Markey (D-Malden) voted in favor of the bill that passed in 2010 while Lynch (D-South Boston) was one of few Democrats who opposed it. Markey said voting for the bill was the "proudest vote of my Congressional career." He said …
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate meet in their second debate.
The combatants for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate special election will square off tonight in Lowell for their second debate leading up to the April 30 primary. Congressmen Edward Markey (D-Malden) and Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston) will participate in the debate being held at 7:30 p.m. at Durgin Hall on the campus of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The debate is being sponsored by UMass Lowell’s Center for Public Opinion and the Boston Herald. Questions for the debate will be posed by UMass Lowell students while the moderator will be reporter Jaclyn Cashman, according to the university. Markey and Lynch previously met for their first debate March 27 at the Channel 5 studios in Needham. The two candidates agreed to …
In tomorrow's Annual Town Election, voters will be asked to cast their vote for as many as five Morse Institute Library Trustees.
Tomorrow is the Annual Town Election here in Natick. As part of the election, voters are asked to vote for no more than five Morse Institute Library Trustees. But what is a Library Trustee? Many people have been asking this question because they don't know what the duties and responsibilities of a Library Trustee is, so we set out to find out. We spoke to Jane Finlay, Assistant Director of the Morse Institute Library, and this is what she told us in an email: The will of Mary Ann Morse contained the language which established the Board of Trustees of the institution. The five persons who comprise the Board are elected for simultaneously to serve five year terms. The Board has been functioning since the 1850s. Pursuant to the language of …
Here is the information you need to know for Tuesday's election, including the polling locations, where to vote and what the ballot looks like.
April 9, 12:15 p.m.: Talked to a couple residents about the small turnout at the polls. April 9, 9:45 a.m.: Turnout has been low so far at the polls. Poll workers think it's a possible that sometime this afternoon there may be a rush for a bit, but they don't seem to expect it to get busy. _____________________________________ April 8, 3:00 p.m.: We have posted an article explaining what a Library Trustee does at the Morse Institute Library, for those who don't know. Also, big black boxes used at the polls are all in place. The machines that scan the ballot are still locked up at Town Hall. These machines are optical scanners that tally the votes. They have been tested and are ready to go. There are approximately 20,000 registered voters …
D.C. al Fine
11:14 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2013
This data missed a whole precinct. more ›